OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to quantify the relationship between number of dental amalgam surfaces and urinary mercury levels. METHODS This study uses participant data from a large philanthropic chronic disease prevention program in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Urine samples were analysed for mercury levels (measured in μg/g-creatinine). T-tests were used to determine if difference...

Mercury is a persistent heavy metal that has been associated with damage to the central nervous system, including hearing and speech impairment, visual constriction and loss of muscle control. In aquatic environments mercury may be methylated to its most toxic form, methyl-mercury. In 1990 concerns were raised over mercury contamination in the vicinity of a mercury processing plant in KwaZulu-N...

The severity of renal injury induced by several graded doses of mercuric chloride and the disposition of mercury were evaluated and compared in control, uninephrectomized (50% NPX), and 75% nephrectomized (75% NPX) rats in an attempt to determine the effect of increased reductions of renal mass on the nephropathy induced by inorganic mercury. Consistent with previously published findings, proxi...

AIM To compare the total and organic mercury content in sea-fish samples from Croatia, where fishing occurs in a closed part of the Mediterranean Sea, and from other countries fishing mostly in the oceans. METHOD During 1997, we collected at the Zagreb fish market a total of 115 samples of fifteen kinds of fish including bathypelagic, pelagic and elasmobranch fish, caught in the wider coastal...

BACKGROUND High levels of mercury in the Cree population of James Bay, Que., have been a cause of concern for several years. This study examines changes in mercury levels within the Cree population between 1988 and 1993/94 and identifies potential determinants of high mercury levels. METHODS Data on mercury levels among the Cree were obtained through a surveillance program undertaken by the C...

Four chelating agents that have been used most commonly for the treatment of humans intoxicated with lead, mercury, arsenic or other heavy metals and metalloids are reviewed as to their advantages, disadvantages, metabolism and specificity. Of these, CaNa2EDTA and dimercaprol (British anti-lewisite, BAL) are becoming outmoded and can be expected to be replaced by meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic aci...

Recently, worldwide media attention has focused on the effects of mercury pollution on the environment, and the resultant health consequences in pregnant women, fetuses, and children.1 Mercury occurs naturally in the environment and is a recognized neurotoxin at high doses.2 It cannot be broken down, thus making it one of the elements of the periodic table. Mercury naturally cycles through the ...

As a result of rapid industrialization several chemical forms of organic and inorganic mercury are constantly introduced to the environment and affect humans and animals directly. All forms of mercury have toxic effects; therefore accurate measurement of mercury is of prime importance especially in suspended particulate matter (SPM) collected through high volume sampler (HVS). In the quantifica...

Guadalupe Reservoir (GUA), California, and Lahontan Reservoir (LAH), Nevada, U.S. are both affected either directly or indirectly by the legacy of gold and silver mining in the Sierra Nevada during the nineteenth century. Analysis of total mercury in fish from these lentic systems consistently indicate elevated concentrations (>1 microg x g(-1) wet weight; hereinafter, all concentrations are re...

Two maritime academy interns (X and Y) were exposed to mercury vapor after spilling a bottle of mercury on the floor in an enclosed storeroom while doing inventory aboard an ore boat. During a 3-day period, intern Y suffered transient clinical intoxication that resolved after he was removed from the environment and he showered and discarded all clothing. His initial serum mercury level dropped ...